1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pop-up mechanism, and more particularly to a pop-up mechanism for an extendable handle of wheeled luggage for allowing the handle to be extended and retracted in a pop-up manner by a single hand so as to increase convenience.
2. Description of Related Art
A wheeled luggage case is widely used by travelers at airports to carry personal belongings, which is equipped with wheels and an extendable handle that allows the user to easily and effortlessly carry the luggage case by pulling it on the ground. The extendable handle is normally retracted and locked in the luggage case and can be unlocked to be extended out for the user to pull the wheeled luggage case on the ground.
In most wheeled luggage cases, the extendable handle is usually provided with a pop-up mechanism that allows the handle to be extended out in a pop-up manner when a button is pressed so that the user can use the handle fast and conveniently.
Such pop-up mechanisms are, for example, disclosed in Kazmark, Jr. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,615, a Cart and Luggage Handle Assembly with an Actuator and Release Apparatus; Chen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,990, a Handle Assembly for Suitcase; Lu, U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,097, a Full Handle for a Truck; Liang, U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,109, a Collapsible Luggage Trolley, to name a few. These pop-up mechanisms, however, are quite complex in construction such that disassembly of the component parts for maintenance and repair would be difficult and thus it is laborious and time-consuming to carry out. Moreover, since the spring used for the pop-up action will be compressed for each use, it can suffer from elastic fatigue after long time of use and should therefore be replaced frequently. However, since these conventional pop-up mechanisms are quite complex in construction, the replacement of the spring will then involve a laborious work. Both assembly and disassembly are thus laborious and time-consuming to carry out. Therefore, the use of these conventional pop-up mechanisms would involve high the manufacturing and maintenance costs.